Report: Repealing ban on abortion coverage for state workers, others will save money

PROVIDENCE — The state's numbers-crunchers dug into the potential cost of repealing the state law that prohibits insurance coverage for state employees and Medicaid recipients seeking abortions.

What they found may not change the impassioned views of Rhode Islanders on opposing sides of the abortion divide on legislation awaiting a hearing to repeal that ban.

But their findings may remove a potential concern for state lawmakers struggling with what, if anything, they can do next in a year when the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to undo the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which guaranteed federal protection of abortion rights.

This is the key finding in the budget office analysis produced on March 24, 2021 in advance of an earlier hearing on the same "repeal" legislation that has been reintroduced this year:

Rhode Island could potentially save $5.4 million a year in taxpayer dollars if it removed the current legal barrier to abortion coverage for state workers and others who depend upon the state for the health insurance plans.

The analysis projects: "a total savings of $5,389,366 from an increase in the number of covered abortions and avoided pregnancies under both Medicaid and the State Employee Insurance Plans."

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Among the assumptions: state taxpayer dollars "would finance abortion coverage for state employee insurance plans...(and) the projected expansion of abortion services under the Medicaid Program."

"In nearly every instance, the overall [financial] impact would be positive due to the average net savings per case (resulting from avoided pregnancy costs)."

The renewed drive to repeal the insurance restrictions in Rhode Island, where abortion rights are already enshrined in state law, is grounded in this argument:

"If you have money, you get a right to abortion. If you don’t and you can’t pay for it out of pocket, then your right isn’t real,'' according to the advocacy group known as The Womxn Project.

The budget office findings will likely be irrelevant to committed opponents of abortion.

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Last year's hearing on an identical bill brought a deluge of comments, including these from the Rhode Island Catholic Conference, in the most Catholic state in the nation, against the "use [of] taxpayer dollars for the objectionable practice of abortion, which ends the life of an unborn human being."

"We advocate the R.I. General Assembly instead direct the expenditure of these monies toward producing healthy birth outcomes and providing income security to decrease the perceived need for abortions."

On Tuesday, however, Gov. Dan McKee joined a chorus of top-level Democrats in saying he supports the "repeal" legislation re-introduced in the House by Rep. Liana Cassar and Sen. Bridget Valverde

"The Governor has been in full support of the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act, legislation that is currently pending before the General Assembly. He urges the General Assembly to pass this bill and send it to his desk for signature."

No date has been set yet for House and Senate hearings on this year's bill.

In its financial analysis, the state budget office compared the cost of an abortion to the potential — and much higher — cost of a pregnancy, even a trouble-free one.

It noted: "Abortion costs vary greatly depending on the circumstances, such as state of pregnancy, location of service (hospital vs. clinic), and whether the procedure was planned or unplanned."

It looked at the number of female state employees of child bearing ago (20 to 49 years old): an estimated 6,500 out of the 32,000 covered by the state employee health plan.

It reported — without elaboration — an average of 73 abortions per year under current Medicaid policy which effectively says: "federal funds can only be used for abortions if the pregnancy is a result of rape, incest, or if it is determined to endanger the pregnant individual's life."

If Rhode Island repealed its own ban on use of state Medicaid dollars, the budget office assumed "an additional uptake of 609 abortions among the estimated 77,258 eligible maternity aged Medicaid enrollees."

The analysis assumed "an average cost of $399.40 ... with a range from $58.43 to $2,663.19," for an abortion.

It pegged the average cost of a pregnancy at $13,769 with the state paying up to 45.32% of the cost for enrollees in the state RIte Care program.

The legislature is required to seek a fiscal note from the budget office on any bill with potential financial implications. Thursday morning, the R.I. GOP responded to the Journal report on this fiscal note by denoucing McKee, who had been in office three weeks when this 2021 analysis was issued.

The GOP distributed a statement headlined: "The McKee Administration's sick logic," that said in part:

“The McKee administration is basically trying to justify taxpayer-funded abortions on the basis that abortions are cheaper than having children. Also, McKee is supporting a new taxpayer-funded program with the expectation that it will incentivize people to have abortions.

"The logic of the McKee administration is simply sick. What will be next from Dan McKee? Perhaps, an analysis on how physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia could save taxpayers millions in health care expenses, or nursing home costs?"

"The idea that because abortion is a constitutional right, taxpayers should pay for it is simply wrong. "

During an interview at the State House on Tuesday, Cassar, of Barrington, said she is unsure of the prospects for her bill, which has 36 co-sponsors in the 75-member House.

"I think this is a complicated bill for anyone in leadership to really plant their flag on just because of the nature of the issue," she said. "Like gun bills, these are high profile bills that can cause someone to be in the line of fire, if you will."

"But I do know the Speaker has said this is a member-driven body," she said. And "I know [from] the buzz of the last 24 hours that people really want to see us make progress within the chamber and outside the chamber."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Report on repealing ban on abortion coverage for RI state workers